One Word: Pirate!
by CaptainTish
Summary: Is Jack a coward or a good man? Jack's opinion on his part in the events of Dead Man's Chest, in two parts. Please review!
1. One Word Pirate

**One Word -- Pirate!**

**Author's Note**: Okay, this is the first fiction I've written in a while. The past year has been rather filled with serious paper-writing about topics like "John Locke and the American Revolution" so I've been creatively brain-dead. But the new movie, as well as people's reactions to it, got me thinking. This is my take on Jack's character during the events of Dead Man's Chest. I've only seen the movie once, on opening day, so this may be a little early in the game, but I just had to write something to get my thoughts in order. So please forgive any errors, since I don't have access to a DVD or a script.

Don't forget to review!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean.

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Some may call him cowardly. Others might say he's selfish.

To the first accusation he would ask said accusers how _they_ might react if they had a colossal, odoriferous sea monster chasing them. How would _they_ react facing the prospect of 100 years of servitude to a psychotic, heartless (in the literal sense) squid-faced monstrosity? The only safety from such a fate being to remain forever on _land_, solid, stationary _land_.

To the second accusation, he would have one word to say. "Pirate!"

It wasn't as if he wanted to betray Will. Sending the whelp over to Davy Jones was merely a temporary solution. Once Jack had the chest, he would have the leverage to get Davy Jones to do whatever he wanted. First he'd have him call off that blasted kraken. There was no way a pirate could make a proper living, if every single time he ventured out onto the open sea that beastie would be lying in wait to swallow his ship. Once the monster was taken care of, he could do something about the crew of the _Flying Dutchman_. They would be set free and Will would go marry his bonny lass, and Bootstrap would soon be playing host to half a dozen grandbabies, no doubt.

Speaking of Bootstrap, he was really doing the lad a favor, arranging a reunion for the two of them, like. Right considerable of him, actually.

He just had to get that chest. And now that Elizabeth was here, he had a heading. Why the compass was suddenly working for Lizzie and not for him, he had no idea. But at least it was working. Once he had the chest and took care of Davy Jones, he would no longer be a marked man, and then he could pull himself together. This whole situation really had him in a bit of a state.

That had been a bit of surprise seeing Lizzie on the dock back at Tortuga, although he should have expected it. That girl would do whatever it took for her beloved William. And that was another thing bothering him. He wasn't altogether sure he liked the idea of the two of them living happily ever after. He was somewhat drawn to the girl, despite her rum-burning tendencies.

He was uncharacteristically confused, he didn't know what he wanted. It wasn't a feeling he liked. No wonder the compass wouldn't work for him.

Having Elizabeth on the _Pearl_ was a further distraction for him. And to make things worse, she kept trying to convince him that he was "a good man!" Whatever that meant. He was a _pirate_. He was out for number one. A really bad egg!

Wasn't he? Then why was he so confused about what he wanted? Blasted compass. The bloody thing was defective, that's all. Right?

He just had to get that chest. Until then he'd do whatever was necessary to stay alive.

But even as he decided this, Lizzie's words echoed in his head, "_you and I are alike. And there will come a moment when you have the chance to show it. To do the right thing_." He had responded in true Jack Sparrow fashion: "_I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by_." But he wondered -- when such a moment came, would he be able to wave it by? He had a funny feeling that, due to a growing case of very un-piratical scruples, he might not. _Blast_.

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Please review! Oh, and If you know how to pronounce Bill Nighy's last name, could you please tell me? It's driving me nuts. 


	2. What a Man Can do and What a Man Can't D

**What a Man Can do and What a Man Can't Do**

**Author's Note**: Well this was supposed to be a one-shot. But I realized I had more to say on the subject of Jack and his being a "Good Man." I waited until I saw the movie again, so I could get the details straight. Thanks to Surly for putting me on the track to the info about Jack's backstory with the East India Trading Company and all that. Fascinating stuff!

**Disclaimer**: 1 matinee ticket to Dead Man's Chest: $8. 1 Small Diet Coke: $3.75. Gas to drive to the movie theater: $3 a gallon (insane!). Spending 2 ½ hours watching Jack Sparrow swagger around on the big screen and being inspired to write a fanfic about a movie that I do not own: PRICELESS!

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Jack looked toward the island. It was a long way over open water to get to safety. He might not make it. He looked back at the _Pearl_. Saw the kraken wrapping its tentacles around his beloved ship. Everyone aboard would die.

Jack Sparrow had always lived his life by the only rules that really mattered: what a man can do and what a man can't do. For example, when he was a young captain just starting out, he had been commmissioned to carry a very special cargo. He _could_ have delivered that hold full of people to their destination, and condemn them to a lifetime of slavery. But he _couldn't_ live with the knowledge that he had cost those people their freedom. Freedom was not something to be taken lightly. And so he'd passed up a "successful" career in the East India Trading Company, and thrown himself wholeheartedly into the life of a pirate.

Throughout his career as a pirate, he'd had to make choices. To be a ruthless and bloodthirsty pirate or to be a rational and merciful pirate? To raze cities to the ground or to pillage and plunder _without_ causing unneccessary casualties? To Jack, it had always seemed more sensible to do his pirating without causing harm to innocents. _Why fight when you can negotiate?_

Now he faced another choice. He _could_ keep on rowing and get himself to that miserable spit of land, where he'd be stranded, but alive. He _could_ leave Will and Elizabeth and Gibbs and the others to die. That would be the piratey thing to do.

But then that blasted honorable streak came back to haunt him. He _couldn't_ leave his friends to die. He couldn't leave Elizabeth.

What did he want? He snapped open his compass. All right, back to _Pearl_ it was. It would likely be the death of him, but that moment Lizzie had spoken of had come, and he just _couldn't_ wave it on by.

Good man, indeed.

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C'mon, now, review, you know you want to! 


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